Social Kick • Swim Culture & Stories

Scottsdale Aquatic Club and ISL team DC Trident's Bob Platt joins the show to talk about the 2020 edition of the International Swimming League. Bob talks about the upcoming camp and meets in Budapest, his team's philosophy and the make up of the roster and coaching staff. Check it out for a wonderful and humorous insight to the ISL and DC trident in particular!

Former USA National team swimmer turned record breaking marathon swimmer Catherine Breed attempts to swim across Monterey Bay, California. A 25 mile crossing, in 56 F water known for Orcas, Great Whites and Jelly Fish. She decided to leave at 9pm with no moonlight. Why? What goes into her preparation? What is it like to be there with her before? As she stands at the start? The guys are on location to chronicle the swim right to the very end. We are inspired and in awe of her heroic adventure.

Bitten by a shark and kept swimming? For 11 more hours, then found the tooth in your hip?! Swam the Ice Mile, voluntarily?! All these stories and more by legendary Kiwi Marathon Swimmer Charlotte Brynn. She joins the show to talk about her experiences training and racing open water endurance events. Listen for for some great knowledge drop son best practices for racing as well as the toughest stories we have heard on competing. Charlotte was nominated as World Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year in 2013 and named one of the World’s top 50 Aquatic Adventurists in 2014, 2015, 2017 & 2019 by the World Open Water Association. In 2018 Charlotte was named one of the top women open water coaches and mentors in the world and was inducted into the Vermont Open Water Swimming Hall of Fame in 2016. Charlotte has also achieved international recognition by completing some of the world’s most challenging marathon swims including the 28-mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim and the 20-mile Catalina Channel. Charlotte is a 2-time USMS Long Distance All American & New England Masters age group 1500 meters record holder. Charlotte is one of the few people in the world and the first New Zealander to swim an International Ice Swimming Association Ice Mile of 1 mile in water at or below 41F/5C.

18 time Ironman and Participant in the 2020 Eco Challenge and World's Toughest Race Sonja Wieck joins the show. Sonja talks about preparing for the race with her Ironman background, learning to swim at age 27 and 7 years, almost becoming the Ironman World Champion at Kona. We dive into the physical and mental challenges of endurance and elite sport and offer guidance on overcoming both. Watch Sonja race on Amazon Prime's Worlds Toughest Race and follow her on www.gosonja.com.

In this episode, Cal backstroke stud Daniel Carr joins the show and we get into the mindset of the Cal men’s college team, some of the key workouts they do, and how Dave Durden structures season plans to peak at the right time. Daniel was a dual-sport athlete during high school and only went full time as a swimmer after his sophomore year, but he was still a highly touted recruit in the pool. Now a Pac-12 champion, NCAA finalist, and double Pan Ams gold medalist, his trajectory should have the backstroke establishment on notice. He says he’s “as fast as anyone in the world on top of the water” and is a clear threat for a backstroke spot on the US Olympic team next summer. We also have some fun chatting about ISL, the newly released rosters for the upcoming season, and get Daniel’s take on the league as a future potential ISL swimmer. Hope you enjoy!

In this episode, we are joined by Margaret Hoelzer. Margaret is an Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoelzer competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Olympic Games. Hoelzer grew up in Huntsville, Alabama and swam for the Auburn Tigers swimming and diving team while attending Auburn University. In 2007, Hoelzer moved to Charlotte, NC to train with Coach David Marsh. In 2008, Hoelzer relocated to Seattle, Washington and then to Fullerton, California with coach Sean Hutchison to train at Fullerton Aquatics. We chat with Margaret about her swimming career and life after swimming.

More and more schools are cutting their swim programs, including the storied University of Iowa team, who were integral in developing Butterfly in the 1930s. We discuss this story and the evolution of Butterfly, with the recent passing of the first Olympic Butterfly Champion from 1956. Then we discuss Caeleb's self analysis of his 50 skins from ISL, going deep into the affects of oxygen depravation and lactate build up. Finally we discuss Nathan Adrian's choice for a guest on our show, with discussion on the future of NCAA swimming rounding off the show.

In this episode, we're joined by gold medalist Kathleen Baker. In this show, we are interrupted by doping control, as Katleen blocks off evenings on her where-about reports. While we delay her doping test, we get into her nutrition and how Celiac's disease alters her training and nutrition. After this, we discuss her favorite sets with coach David Marsh, as well as what she feels she does at an elite level for her backstroke. After this, we get into where she is hoping to improve and her current mindset heading into the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Join us for a laugh and learn some of the unique aspects of being an Olympic swimmer! handling an auto-immune disorder (Celiac's disease), nutrition, and much more.

In this episode, we're joined by one of the greatest Masters swimmers of all-time, Karlyn Pipes. Karlyn discusses her journey in the sport of swimming, which included early success, being an Olympic hopeful, swimming at the University of Arkansas, then dropping out. She discusses her addiction to alcohol, which eventually led her to rehabilitation. After alcohol rehabilitation, she was offered a full athletic scholarship to attend California State University Bakersfield (CSUB), at the age of 35! This was her "Do-Over", as she wrote about in her book (available here). We also discuss current events, the current status of female coaches in college swimming, and open water training for pool swimmers.

Dr. John, Bryan and Luke gather in person for the first time in months to discuss some recent news. Caeleb's Race Analysis, the value of Endless Pools, HR monitoring and other live tracking analysis are the topics discussed over a beer. Subscribe to the channel to get regular episodes, see the extracts from the shows and promos for new shows!

In this episode, we're joined by an Olympic swimmer who never went to the Olympics, Craig Beardsley. We delve into Craig's last race, missing the 1984 Olympic team, his experience with the 1980 US Olympic boycott, and differences between his training and current training. Craig dives further back to discuss the legendary training group at the University of Florida in the late 1970s and training with Randy Reese and he shares a story of him training with many Russian Olympians leading up to the 1980s game. While discussing the Russian Olympians, Craig discusses his interactions with the late, great Russian coach Gennadi Touretski. We end the show discussing technology, doping, and advances in the sport of swimming. Another amazing conversation with a legend and don't forget to checkout Swim Across America!

For our 50th episode, we’re joined by one of the best swim coaches of all time, Mike Bottom. This conversation explores Mike’s swimming career including his experience with the 1980 US Olympic boycott, his world-beating swimmer brother Joe Bottom, where he developed his skills in psychology and the art of coaching each individual person, not just the swimmer. Mike takes us through the epic arc of his coaching career from his influence on the start of a sprint dynasty at Auburn (which he confirms is the greatest in college swimming history), back to his alma mater USC and being part of a women’s national championship, then later to joining icon Nort Thornton at Cal, coaching Gary Hall Jr, Anthony, Duje, Cavic, and finally to his current seat leading the thriving Michigan program. This one hits it all, and we could have gone on for hours. Enjoy!

In this episode of The Social Kick, Jason Dunford joins the show to discuss his careers as an Olympic swimmer, tech startup co-founder, reporter, and rapper. A true renaissance man, this conversation explores Jason’s evolution from a young swimmer in Kenya to one of the best butterfliers in the world, his transition into business and an MBA at Stanford GSB, to his life now as Samaki Mkuu (rap star) including special guest Jabali Afrika. For a special treat, Samaki and Jabali perform live!

In this episode, we are joined by Olympic Gold Medalists Gary Hall Jr. We discuss Gary's early skateboarding and snowboarding interests and how we transitioned into swimming at the age of 13. He discusses his frustration with traditional high volume training and his college experience at the University of Texas. Gary then discusses his 1996 Olympic experience, diagnosis with type I diabetes, and his current views on sprint swimming training.

In this episode, we are joined by 3x Olympian and Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Adrian. We start by discussing what Nathan has been doing during Covid-19, diving into the purchasing of his swim school. Then we talk about his experiences in the Olympics and Nathan gives his opinion on the best US Olympic male sprinter of all-time. After this, we talk about diversity in swimming and Nathan's experiences growing up in Washington. We end with an amusing game of rapid-fire questions where Nathan can't say sprinters are tougher than distance swimmers.

In this episode, we are joined by 2x Olympian and the current head coach of the Tulane Women's swim team, Leah Martindale-Stancil. Leah discusses her early swimming as a youngster in Barbados. We discuss Leah's experience at the "not a big deal" 1996 Atlanta Olympics where she placed 5th in the 50-m freestyle. We also dive into female coaching inequality and Leah's experience as a black swimmer in Barbados compared to the United States.

In this episode, Duje Draganja joins the show to discuss his life growing up in Croatia, his experiences at CAL Berkeley, and his Olympic journey. Duje also touches on an elite swimmer's mindset and self regulating training.

In this episode, the gang is joined by Olympian Tom Shields. Tom discusses his amazing high school and college career while discussing multiple hardships along his journey. We discuss his suicide attempt, his use of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), and how CBT is helping him become a better swimmer.

In this episode, Katie Hoff joins the show to discuss the best viral videos of swimming history, her last swimming race and career reflection, life as a youngster on the Olympic team, training 7-days a week at NBAC, some epic swim sets and how doing them breeds confidence when it’s time to race. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

In this episode, we are joined by 4x Olympic medalist and Rio 200 bk gold medalist Maya DiRado. We chat about the best Olympic swimming upsets of all-time, Maya's last race, what she’s been up to since Rio, difficult times during her swimming career, being a professional swimmer, the disparity of women in college coaching, and finally current events and her involvement in supporting activism in the swimming community and how swimming can evolve.

In this episode, we are joined by one of the best US female breaststrokers in history, Laura Sogar. Laura swam at the University of Texas where she was an NCAA champion. Laura also earned silver at the 2012 World Championships in 2012. Since college, Laura has started doing stand-up comedy to complement her work in cybersecurity. Laura joins us to discuss life after sport, similarities between swimming and stand-up comedy, and recent social events.

In this episode, we are joined by Christen Shefchunas. Christen has twenty-two years of coaching and working one on one with women, Coach Christen speaks to women about REAL Confidence. Christen was an assistant swim coach at Michigan State and SMU before becoming the Head Coach at the University of Miami. Christen found herself back in the swimming world in 2015 working with Team Elite, a group of Olympians and National Team members as they prepared for the 2016 Olympic Trials and Olympic Games. In 2016, she created Coach Christen, LLC and works one on one with some of the top female athletes in the world as a Confidence Coach. We chat with Christen about confidence in college athletes, breaking down the differences between male and female swimmers, and confidence transitioning from athletics to the professional World.

In this episode, we are joined by one of the most bad-ass sprinters in history, Kara Lynn Joyce. Kara Lynn is 3x US Olympian, bajillion time NCAA champion, and Founder/CEO of LEAD Sports Summit. We chat with Kara Lynn about age-group and high school swimming, including her time training with Urbanchek and the Michigan men, her NCAA recruiting experience and career at Georgia, her Olympics and Olympic trials races, being a great puller, and so much more. This episode was recorded on June 4, 2020 during a time of protest over social injustice, and we begin our conversation addressing current events.

In this episode, we are joined by Felicia Lee. Felicia was a USA National Team member and is a multiple-time NCAA Champion. We chat with Felicia about swimming at North Baltimore Aquatic Club with Bob Bowman, at Stanford with Greg Meehan, and what she has been doing after her swimming career.

We are joined by Olympic medalist and distance superstar Leah Smith. Leah grew up in Pennslyvania and swam for the JCC Sailfish. She continued her swimming in college at the University of Virginia where she excelled and was a multiple-time NCAA champion. Internationally, Leah medaled at the 2016 Olympics and has made numerous international teams for the United States. She currently trains at Tucson Ford Aquatics and represented the LA Current in 2019 of the ISL.

In this episode, we’re joined by American distance swimming star Chad La Tourette. Chad grew up in Southern California, swimming at the legendary Mission Viejo Nadadores under Bill Rose. He had success in high school, making the 2006 Junior National Team and 2007 World University Games. In 2008, he finished 3rd at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the mile. In college, he swam for Stanford University, where he broke the NCAA record in the mile, but finished second to Martin Grodszki of the University of Georgia. In 2012, he finished 3rd in the mile at the U.S. Olympic Trials, for a second time. We chat with Chad La Tourette about his NCAA, International, Open Water, and Masters swimming career.

In this episode, we’re joined by the versatile Dylan Carter. Dylan began swimming later than most swimmers in Trinidad and Tobago, then moved to the United States for High School. Dylan was then recruited to USC to swim for the Trojans under Dave Salo. He swam in the 2016 Olympics representing Trinidad and Tobago and is a member of the LA Current. Our conversation with Dylan covers the swimming training in Trinidad and Tobago, moving to the United States as an International Student, college swimming, the Olympics, and the ISL.

In this episode, we’re joined by standout backstroke and freestyler Amy Bilquist. Amy’s been an elite swimmer for a long time. She was one of the top recruits in the country out of high school, where she moved onto Cal and continued to rack up points for the Bears. She’s been on the USA National team, and last summer returned from a knee surgery AND a broken hand to win the 100bk National title and light a spark for the Olympic push. Our conversation with Amy covers the Olympic postponement and current lifestyle during COVID19 shutdown, strength training and learnings from injury recovery, what she’d like to see ISL add to the lineup to drive excitement, and much more plus some laughter along the way.

In this episode, we’re joined by Glenn Mills (1980 Olympian [200br], 1983 NCAA Champion [2br], co-founder of GoSwim, technique and film guru). Glenn has decades of experience in swimming, notably winning the 200 breast at 1980 Olympic Trials in the closest trials 2-breast in history (.01 margin of victory), only to have to sit out those Games as part of the boycott. Glenn rallied to become NCAA champion in 1983 and spent years as one of the top breaststrokers in the world. In 2002, he co-founded GoSwim, the worlds leading provider of technical swimming videos, through which Glenn has worked with countless world-class swimmers and coaches with an up-close perspective of how the very best approach technique and training, and what it takes to be great. In this wide ranging conversation, we cover it all, from Glenn’s early days and the influence his brother’s life had on his swimming career, the legendary Cincinnati Marlins of the late 70s/early 80s, Don Gambril era of Alabama swimming & Jonty Skinner, founding GoSwim and sharing some learnings from the vast network of elite athletes and coaches that have crossed his camera lens.

In this episode, USA National Teamer Katie McLaughin joins us. We talk about what Katie’s focusing on now in training to stay fit, areas of focus for her training in general, team dynamics at Cal under Teri McKeever, pro swimming for the LA Current, and how ISL can improve on season 1.

In this episode of The Social Kick Podcast, the guys chat with open water standout Catherine Breed. The guys chat with Catherine about: -What she is doing with Covid-19 -Her last swimming pool race -When she started open water swimming -How to transition between open water and pool swimming -Nonobvious differences between open water and pool swimming -Her biggest mentors and coaches during her career -Continuing the love of swimming through all the years in the pool

In this episode, the guys chat with one of the US's top female sprinters, Margo Geer. They discuss Margo's view on: -The Olympics being postponed -Her current training and how her training has adjusted from different programs and coaches over the years -Season 1 of the ISL -ISL expansion for year 2 -ISL solidarity program

Welcome to the Social Kick Podcast! Thanks for joining us with National Team Member Brandon Fischer.

Who is excited for college swim meets! Tonight on The Social Kick Podcast: The guys discuss: -Bobby Finke abolishes the American and NCAA record in the mile -The rest of SEC, ACC, women B1G Ten conference meets -Day 1 of week 2 of conference meets -Breaking down the rest of the conference meets

Thanks for joining us for our weekly Social Kick Podcast! The whole gang is back as Luke returns from his travels. In this episode they discuss current 🏊results: - SEC Results - ACC Results - Women Big 10 Results - Ivy Leagues Results - Looking ahead at the other conference meets

Who's excited for the Premiere of the Facebook Live premiere of The Social Kick Podcast! In this episode, Luke Paddington Bryan Lundquist John Mullen and Justin Huynh discuss: NCAA Swimming, Jonty Skinner, Rivalry Dual Meets

In this Facebook Live of the Social Kick Podcast, the guys discuss: Conference Meet Round-Up -Pac-12 Women: Abbey Weitzeil, Stanford Women -B10 Men: Michigan wins big -Big 12 -Pac-12 Men -Projecting women’s NCAA Pro Swim Series Des Moines -Katie Ledecky -Day 1 Recap Other News -Sun Yang suspension -Coronavirus and the Olympics

This week the guys discuss: NCAA Swimming • Pac-12 Men, Reece Whitley and Cal • The impact of coronavirus Pro Swim Series Des Moines • Regan Smith • Michael Andrew • Caleb Dressel • Brent Hayden • Others Other News • ISL team changes

In this episode of the Social Kick Podcast, the guys sit down with Olympic silver medalist and former World Record Holder Milorad Cavic. Milorad is most well known for his historic 100-m butterfly races with Michael Phelps. In this episode, the guys get Cavic's thoughts on: -The Olympic postponement and how he might have handled it if it happened during his career -Protesting on the medal stand -Transitioning away from the "super suit" era

In this episode, the guys are joined by 5x Olympian and Olympic Bronze Medalist George Bovell. In this episode we discuss: -How George knows Luke. -George's experience at all five of his Olympics. -George's view of the Olympics and the IOC. -George's view on the Olympics being postponed. -George's advice for current swimmers and those still swimming.

With the 'shelter in place' in the Bay Area, the boys join on a full remote session to discuss: Covid-19 - USA, Japan, and other swimming federations propose to postpone Olympics - USA Swimming events canceled through April - Olympic training center shut down Swimming - Federica Pellegrini swims 1:55.8 behind closed doors. International Swim League - Toronto Titans - Swimmers switching teams - Adding 100 IM to schedule

In this episode, the crew welcomes Carlene Takaki. Carlene is a coach for PASA Rinconada for their 13-14 year old age group. Carlene recounts her last race which was the 200 fly at the 2008 Olympic Trials. She also talks about her mentors in coaching such as her previous coaches and other coaches in the area. Following that, she delved into women in coaching, individual empowerment and building a foundational team culture.

✋Who's excited for the Premiere of the Facebook Live premiere of The Social Kick Podcast! In this episode, the guys ➡️ NCAA Swimming ➡️ Jonty Skinner ➡️ Rivalry Dual Meets ➡️ Cullen Jones and Brent Hayden swimming comebacks ➡️ Much More We will be posting every Tuesday @ 8:30 pm PST, join, see you next time!

In this episode, we discuss top races from the Knoxville Pro Series Swim meet, FINA Champions Swim Series, Australian State meet, and NCAA meets. Then, we have some fun reminiscing on the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. #swimming #racing #auburn #purdue #pugentsound #king #pasa #trinidad #worldrecord #americanrecord #allamerican #mcgill #canadaswimming #pacificswimming #dayton #ohioswimming #bayarea @corsmash #swimmingscience #carribean #usswimming #physicaltherapy #physiotherapy #strengthtraining #mastersswimming #pacificmastersswimming #usmastersswimming #thehistorian

The guys get back together to talk about the US Open. They the importance of the meet in today's circuit of elite competitions and look forward to some of the upcoming swims. It is a debate on whether or not Ryan Lochte will be rested. Finally, the guys play an Olympic game where they recap some athletes from the 2012 Olympics.

"Coach Justin" writes the guys another workout based on Olympics distances. Justin calls out the set, then for each rep, he names an Olympic finalist, their place and time. Luke, Bryan, and John have the interval that the set if on to talk about that swim/swimmer. This is a short one today and we go across a few Olympics so hold on tight!

The guys get together to chat about the recent news on Sun Yang's hearing. Bryan goes into detail about the differences in drug testing organizations but the guys agree that it is unlikely Sun Yang will get suspended. On a more positive note, Luke is impressed with the younger generation in USA swimming. They also discuss the recent American leg of the International Swimming League as the crew speculates that some individuals might have rested and others may fully rest for the finale in Vegas.

We shake this up this week with a game. "Coach Justin" writes a workout for Luke, Bryan and John based on the 2008 Olympic Games. Using only Olympic events, Justin calls out a set with repeats, using Olympic race distances. For each rep, coach Justin calls out the name of a finalist for that distance and the guys have the repeat interval to chat about the swimmers. Let's see how good their memory is and look forward to the memories of the blazing-fast Beijing Olympic Games! Don't forget to watch us on our Youtube channel to watch The Social Kick Podcast! #swimming #michaelphelps #catecampbell #LarsenJensen #BrendanHansen #PeterVanderkaay #AaronPeirsol #MattGrevers #BenWildman-Tobriner #NatalieCoughlin #KatieHoff #ChristineMagnuson #ElizabethBeisel #MargaretHoelzer #DaraTorres #LaceyNymeyer #OussamaMellouli #BrittaSteffen #KirstyCoventry #CesarCieloFilho #ArkadyVyatchanin #AmauryLeveaux #AlainBernard

During a week in the fall when Luke was traveling, the guys start off talking about scholarships in NCAA swimming and then dive into their experiences swimming in US High Schools. From recruiting trips to shaving down, to club swimming while on the high school team, we hear a range of stories from John, Bryan, and Justin. Don't forget to watch us on our Youtube channel to watch The Social Kick Podcast! #swimming #highschoolswimming #clubswimming #highschool #wayintheday #highschooltraditions #goodtimes #throwback #USswimming #CentervilleHighSchool #Ohio #Georgia #BayArea #SacredHeartPrep #LassiterHighSchool #PASARinc #StingRaysSwimming #NCAA #Scholarships #training #ncaaswimming #Purdue #Auburn #PugetSound #Recruiting #WalkingOn

We’re halfway through a wild first season of pro swimming. The guys recap week 4 of ISL action from Budapest and preview the upcoming ISL derbies in November. They get into the impact of the NCAA allowing athletes to be compensated on their likeness, and what this step might mean for future NCAA eligibility of high school swimmers and the potential for international professional pro swimmers to come back and compete in the NCAA. The conversations rolls into the quality of swimming coverage for events like the Olympics and ISL, and what the future holds. Rowdy Gaines even gets some love with a special round of Rowdy trivia. Don't forget to watch us on our Youtube channel to watch The Social Kick Podcast! #swimming #AquaPower #ISL2019 #ISL #internationalswimleague #catecampbell #londonroar #nybreakers #teamiron #lacurrent #swimming #training #ncaaswimming